Reflect before you Inject! – Shockwave Therapy versus Localised Corticosteroid Injection

At Goodall Healthcare Group, our aim is to provide effective rehabilitation and a long-term solution to help you live pain free. This is one of the reasons we provide adjunctive therapies like shockwave, proven to help in injury management and provide positive long-term outcomes.

We often do get asked if we provide steroid injections. Steroid injection therapy has become mainstay of management in a lot of MSK conditions, most prominently osteoarthritis. However, at GHG, we have a slightly different approach and would like to use this opportunity to outline why we prefer not to provide this service.

What are steroid injections?

Corticosteroids are synthetic analogues of hormones naturally produced by the adrenal glands, which are located superior to the kidneys. When administered via intra-articular or intramuscular injection, corticosteroids exert potent anti-inflammatory effects in the surrounding tissues, leading to a reduction in local redness, swelling, pain, and joint stiffness.

The idea behind their use is to provide strong pain relief, so that you can use rehabilitation exercises to strengthen the muscles so by the time the pain relief effects have worn off, you have the tools to effectively manage your injury.

However, there are a whole host of side effects to consider! This is why doctors don’t usually recommend more than 4 injections to the same site!

In people with diabetes or high blood pressure, steroid injections may temporarily raise blood sugar or blood pressure levels. Systemic injections may cause side effects like oral steroids, including increased appetite, mood changes, and insomnia.

What is shockwave?

Shockwave therapy is a non-invasive treatment hat delivers high-energy sound waves to injured or painful areas. It promotes healing by stimulating blood flow, reducing inflammation, and breaking down calcifications. It’s used for conditions like plantar fasciitis, tendinopathies, and calcific shoulder tendinitis, it can help reduce pain and improve function without the need for surgery. See our full article on this here :

Why do we prefer to promote shockwave *Research Backed*

Generally, studies indicate that corticosteroids offer quicker short term pain relief, shockwave tends to provide more sustained long-term benefits (without the worrying side effects!)

For plantar fasciitis, studies showed that at six months shockwave (ESWT) continued to show “superior results” in pain reduction and “foot function improvement”. (https://doi.org/10.1177/02692155241253779)

In lateral epicondylitis (tennis elbow) – corticosteroid injections provided better short-term (1-month) pain relief and functional improvement, ESWT demonstrated superior long-term (3-month and 6-month) outcomes in pain reduction and grip strength. Both treatments had a similarly low incidence of mild adverse events. (doi: 10.1111/os.14212)

Generally, in tendinopathies of any kind ESWT significantly reduced pain across various tendinopathies, with greater effectiveness observed when applied at lower intensities and for longer durations. ( 10.1186/s13102-024-00884-8).

The research speaks for itself and so do our previous patients!

In 2022/23, we asked some of our patients who had completed a course of shockwave therapy about their experience.

They were 100% likely to recommend GHG for shockwave, stating that “movement is definitely better” and the treatment was “friendly and effective”.

Don’t delay, get in touch with us for this service or any other concerns today!